Beyond Organic Local Farm Products

To Bee Or Not To Bee

Martha and I were talking one day about ways we can become more self-sufficient and got to thinking about bees. We knew very little about bee keeping initially (and are still by no means experts), but what we did know that bees help pollinate plants (so good for our garden), they produce honey (a tasty treat), and that they are facing some serious problems which are still haunting apiarists and scientific researchers. Not to mention they are a renewable resource that, given the right conditions, can pretty much sustain themselves and still provide useful resources for their keepers!

This series we are starting is our way of giving back to the community that we have benefited from along our journey of becoming beekeepers. We hope to share our experiences, insights, and gained wisdom in hopes that others can benefit from our work and become more prepared in their own homestead!

We decided to do a little more research about beekeeping to see what it was all about and specifically the steps and investments needed to get started. First we borrowed a couple books on bee keeping from our local library. One of the most useful books we checked out was Beekeeping For Dummies, check back later for a more detailed review… We also looked up some local beekeeping clubs online to see if they might offer some classes. Unfortunately we had missed the registration deadline for the introductory courses for the year! We decided to learn as much as possible by reading about beekeeping online.

It turns out that there are many more benefits to keeping bees than we initially thought. While we knew, honey can be used as replacement for sweetener in many recipes, we learned studies have shown that eating local honey can help mitigate allergies, and honey is a key ingredient in mead. Which, by the way, is where the term “honeymoon” came from; tradition held that consuming honey wine (mead) during the first month of marriage would aid in conception, hence the term “honeymoon”!

Bees are also fascinating creatures from a scientific/educational standpoint. Their coordination among the members of the colony and ability to communicate very specific directions to available resources is remarkable. As mentioned earlier they are also suffering from a mysterious problem known as colony collapse disorder which means there is even greater need for more people to keep bees to assist in their population maintenance.

Long Term Value

Personal and educational benefits aside, one thing that really stuck out to us was the intrinsic value in the products derived from the bees’ work. Obviously local honey sells for a premium at farmers markets, but beeswax based products are also highly desired. Beeswax candles burn cleaner and longer than most other types of candles, not to mention they are naturally scented with a wonderful honey smell.

Trading Products - Source: http://bit.ly/H5ZfP7

Another value beyond immediate dollar sales is the value of bee products in a scenario where commercial products become scarce. The products we can make from our bees will become invaluable and be perfect for trading and bartering for other resources we may desire. Unlike other products that would be desired in such scenarios, the bee products are continually available to us with minimal maintenance of the bees.

Cost

Now that we were totally sold on the benefits of beekeeping the reality sunk in that we currently had no bees, had no place for bees to live, and were not even sure we were legally allowed to keep bees in our suburban neighborhood! Many websites and books we read also said that you must order bees very early on in order to have a chance at getting them as they are often in scarce supply. On top of all this many websites listed hives and equipment that all in all would total in the thousands of dollars just to get started!

The beginning of this journey was certainly overwhelming for us, both in a good way in that we learned so much more than we previously knew about bees, and in a bad way where at one point we were about to call it quits as the upfront cost did not seem worth it to us. However, despite the challenges we ventured on and made some interesting discoveries along the way.